Vice-President Mohd Hamid Ansari has said India-ASEAN economic progress is intimately linked to the growth and prosperity of the entire Asian Continent. He addressed to the audience at the full-packed auditorium in the Chulalongkorn University at Bangkok this morning. He said India and Thailand need to increase their efforts to improve economic and trade relations and enhance defence ties.<br/>Mr. Hamid Ansari listed out commerce, culture and connectivity as the future focus areas of cooperation between India and the ASEAN. He favoured an early finalization of a balanced and ambitious Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two sides. He said, that ASEAN is at the core of India's Act East policy.<br/>On the situation in South China Sea, Mr Ansari favoured conclusion of a Code of Conduct with the collective efforts by ASEAN nations and China, to keep peace and stability in the region.<br/><br/>India and ASEAN have elevated their cooperation into a strategic partnership since 2012. Vice President Hamid Ansari was appreciative of the breadth and intensity of engagements between the two sides saying, they are unmatched. He suggested extending the trilateral India-Myanmar-Thailand highway project to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. <br/><br/>He expressed hope, the Mekong-India economic corridor through sea link connecting the ports at Chennai in India and Dawei in Myanmar would revitalize industry and trade. As the centre of gravity of the global economic and geo-political spheres are shifting towards the Asia-Pacific, Vice President Hamid Ansari insisted to reclaim the past heritage of dynamic ties between India and ASEAN.

Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari said today that India and Southeast Asia, with a fourth of the world's population, must deepen their strategic engagement to have greater say in world affairs. Delivering a talk at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, the Vice-President said with the global economic and geo-political centre of gravity shifting towards Asia, the time is ripe for our common engagement for bringing greater equity into the international order.<br/><br/>Dr Ansari said in his address titled "India, Thailand and ASEAN: Contours of a Rejuvenated Relationship", that the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and India both want an open and fairer global trading system and a reformed United Nations, in particular the Security Council. <br/><br/>He said, India places ASEAN at the core of the Act East Policy and at the centre of our dream of an Asian century. There is a very special emphasis on India-ASEAN cooperation in our domestic agenda on infrastructure, manufacturing, trade, skills, urban renewal, smart cities and Make in India programmes, he pointed out.<br/><br/>The breadth and intensity of India's engagement with South East Asia is unmatched by any of our other regional relationships, the Vice-President said. India-ASEAN cooperation has set up three funds in New Delhi, including the ASEAN-India Cooperation Fund, the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Fund, and the ASEAN-India Green Fund. <br/><br/>Dr. Ansari also promised that India will extend support to China and Southeast Asia in their search for peace and stability in the volatile region and requested all parties to the maritime and territorial disputes in the South China Sea to exercise restraint. Dr Ansari arrived in Thailand on an official visit from Brunei yesterday.